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76-655: The Union for a Popular Movement (French: Union pour un mouvement populaire [ynjɔ̃ puʁ œ̃ muvmɑ̃ pɔpylɛːʁ] ; UMP [y.ɛmpe] ) was a liberal-conservative political party in France , largely inspired by the Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was one of the two major parties in French politics along with the Socialist Party (PS). In May 2015, the party

152-453: A Ministry of Immigration, and National Identity for three years between 2007 and 2010, launched a controversial national dialogue on national identity and expelled thousands of Roma from illegal camps. Critics of the right-wing government denounced what they felt was a rapprochement with the controversial far-right National Front (FN). While several members of the UMP's right-wing have indicated that they would favour local alliances with

228-446: A right-wing populist posture. Being liberal often involves stressing free market economics and the belief in individual responsibility together with the defense of civil rights and support for a limited welfare state . Compared to other centre-right political traditions such as Christian democracy , liberal conservatives are less socially conservative and more economically liberal, favouring low taxes and minimal state intervention in

304-511: A cabinet position. In the 2009 European Parliament election on 7 June 2009, the UMP ran common lists with its junior allies including Jean-Louis Borloo 's Radical Party , the New Centre and Modern Left . The UMP list won 27.9%, a remarkably good result for a governing party in off-year "mid-term" elections, and elected 29 MEPs, significantly improving on the UMP's poor result in the 2004 European election – also an off-year election. However, in

380-472: A mediation between both candidates on 23 November, but it failed within two days. Fillon's announced "precautionary seizure" of ballots cast "to protect them from tampering or alteration" and threatened to take the matter to court. On 26 November, the party appeals commission – led by a close supporter of Copé – decided in Copé's favour and rejected Fillon's arguments. On 27 November, 72 filloniste parliamentarians in

456-422: A new presidential vote and a modification of party statutes. The next day, Copé announced that he favoured organising a referendum the modification of party statutes and a reduction of his own term as president to two years (until November 2014); while Fillon welcomed the "consensus on the organisation of a new election" he rejected his rival's timeline and called for a new election before 2014. 'Unaligned' members of

532-608: A party congress on 18 and 25 November 2012, leading prominent party leaders to organise factions and "movements" to influence the party's new direction. Ultimately, two candidates amassed the required endorsements to run for the party's presidency: former prime minister François Fillon and incumbent party secretary-general Jean-François Copé . Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet , Bruno Le Maire , Xavier Bertrand , Henri Guaino , and Dominique Dord had also announced their candidacies but did not meet tough candidacy requirements. The campaign between Fillon and Copé lasted two months. Fillon had

608-422: A secretary-general ( Patrick Devedjian ) and two associate secretaries-general. On 9 March 2008, municipal and cantonal elections, the party performed quite poorly, losing numerous cities, such as Toulouse and Strasbourg , as well as eight departmental presidencies to the left. Xavier Bertrand was selected as secretary-general of the party in late 2008 to replace Patrick Devedjian , who resigned to take up

684-411: A sense of duty and responsibility to the nation. Liberal conservatives also support civil liberties , along with some socially conservative positions. They differ on social issues , with some being socially conservative and others socially liberal, though all liberal conservatives broadly support the rule of law regarding civil rights , social equality and the environment . This is equated with

760-573: A sizeable portion of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), merged their parties into the new party over the course of the first year. The UDF's Christian Democrats (such as Philippe Douste-Blazy and Jacques Barrot ), the Radical Party and the centrist Popular Party for French Democracy (both associate parties of the UDF until 2002), aligned themselves with the party for the 2002 French legislative election . In

836-439: A strong lead in polls of UMP 'sympathizers' (as opposed to actual members, who would be the only eligible voters) and was backed by most UMP parliamentarians while Copé claimed he was the candidate of party activists rather than party 'barons'. However, Copé remained as secretary-general and retained control of the party machinery. While Fillon's campaign was regarded as more consensual, moderate and centre-right; Copé campaigned as

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912-604: Is a stronger social agenda and support for a greater degree of state intervention especially in certain areas of social life which liberal conservatives believe should not be subject to market forces. Particularly in regards to the family, sexuality, health and education, these should either always be periodically regulated or minimally protected by the state. Both conservatism and liberalism have had different meanings over time in different centuries. The term liberal conservatism has been used in quite different ways. It usually contrasts with aristocratic conservatism, which deems

988-810: Is also associated with support for moderate forms of social safety net and environmentalism (see also green conservatism and green liberalism ). This variety of liberal conservatism has been espoused by Nordic conservatives (the Moderate Party in Sweden, the Conservative Party in Norway and the National Coalition Party in Finland) which have been fending off competition from right-wing populists to their right and do not include Christian democrats; and at times

1064-470: Is far more anti-statist than liberal conservatism and is much more hostile to government intervention in both social and economic matters. Combining conservative cultural principles but with less social intervention and a more laissez faire economic system. Neoconservatism is sometimes described as the same or similar to liberal conservatism in Europe. However, Peter Lawler has regarded neoconservatism in

1140-687: Is the case in continental Europe , Australia and Latin America . 2002 French legislative election Jean-Pierre Raffarin UMP Jean-Pierre Raffarin UMP Legislative elections were held in France on 9 and 16 June 2002, to elect the 12th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic , in a context of political crisis. The Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced his political retirement after his elimination at

1216-463: The 2007 and 2012 presidential elections emphasised the ideas of personal responsibility and individual initiative. He developed the idea of "working more to earn more", promising that overtime hours would not be taxed and employers exonerated from non-wage labour costs . Under his presidency, the government's short-lived tax cap for high-income earners was denounced by the left but also several centrist and centre-right politicians within or outside

1292-581: The 2010 regional elections on 14 and 21 March 2010, the UMP obtained a very poor result with only 26%. While it lost Corsica, it retained Alsace but also defeated the left in La Réunion and French Guiana . In a cabinet reshuffle in November 2010, which disappointed centrists within and outside the UMP, François Fillon was confirmed prime minister and Alain Juppé re-joined the government. Among those who resigned from

1368-1046: The Christian Democratic Appeal in the Netherlands, the Christian Democratic Union in Germany and the People's Party in Austria) have become almost undistinguishable from other liberal-conservative parties. On the other hand, newer liberal-conservative parties (such as New Democracy in Greece, the Social Democratic Party in Portugal, the People's Party in Spain, Forza Italia / The People of Freedom / Forza Italia in Italy,

1444-534: The National Assembly announced the creation of a new parliamentary group, the Rassemblement-UMP , led by Fillon. Copé took up former president Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal of organising a referendum on a revote, but he saw the creation of the dissident filloniste group as a casus belli and took back his proposal. Luc Chatel , the new vice-president and a Copé supporter, later announced that he supported

1520-528: The Union for a Popular Movement / The Republicans in France and most centre-right parties from countries once belonging to the Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia ) have not adopted traditional labels, but their ideologies are also a mixture of conservatism, Christian democracy and liberalism. In the modern European discourse, liberal conservatism usually encompasses centre-right political outlooks that reject at least to some extent social conservatism. This position

1596-638: The centre-left of the political spectrum, in contrast to many European countries where liberalism is often more associated with the centre and centre-right while social democracy makes up a substantial part of the centre-left. The opposite is true in Latin America , where economically liberal conservatism is often labelled under the rubric of neoliberalism both in popular culture and academic discourse. Although libertarian conservatism has similarities to liberal conservatism with both being influenced by classical liberal thought, libertarian conservatism

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1672-668: The British Conservative Party . In an interview shortly after taking office as Prime Minister in 2010, David Cameron introduced himself as a liberal conservative. During his first speech to a party conference in 2006, Cameron had defined this as believing in individual freedom and human rights , but being skeptical of "grand schemes to remake the world". Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other In

1748-454: The FN and prefer to vote for a FN candidate over a Socialist Party or left-wing candidate in runoff elections between the left and the FN; the party's official position continues to reject alliances with the FN at any level but also opposes so-called "republican fronts" with the left against the FN. The UMP's original statutes in 2002 allowed for the organisation of formal factions or movements within

1824-689: The Move ( Union en mouvement ). After Chirac's re-election, in order to contest the legislative election jointly, the Union for the Presidential Majority ( Union pour la majorité présidentielle ) was created. It was renamed "Union for a Popular Movement" and as such established as a permanent organisation. Various parties, such as the Gaullist-conservative Rally for the Republic (RPR), the conservative-liberal party Liberal Democracy (DL),

1900-591: The UMP four major French political families were thus represented: Gaullism , republicanism (the kind of liberalism put forward by parties like the Democratic Republican Alliance or the PR , heir of DL), Christian democracy ( Popularism ) and radicalism . Chirac's close ally Alain Juppé became the party's first president at the party's founding congress at the Bourget in November 2002. Juppé won 79.42% of

1976-565: The UMP included O Porinetia To Tatou Ai'a in French Polynesia and The Rally–UMP in New Caledonia . The aforementioned November 2012 congress saw the division of the party between the two candidates who sought the party's presidency, François Fillon and Jean-François Copé – the fillonistes and copéistes . Liberal conservatism The ideology incorporates the classical liberal view of minimal government intervention in

2052-410: The UMP led by Bruno Le Maire and Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet appealed for the organisation of a new election in the spring of 2013 and a reform of the party statutes. Both rivals reached an agreement at the end of December 2012, with Copé agreeing to the organisation of a new election and a modification of party statutes while Fillon agreed to dissolve his parliamentary group. The party's leadership

2128-503: The UMP was discovered to have a hidden debt of €79.1 million for the year 2013. On 20 May 2021, the criminal trial began for Sarkozy and 13 other defendants who were said to have been involved in the Bygmalion scandal. The scandal allegations that Sarkozy diverting tens of millions of euros which was intended to be spent on his failed 2012 re-election campaign and then hiring a PR firm to cover it up. The illicit campaign finance money which

2204-529: The UMP's leadership structure: The Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition , the Christian Democratic Party , the Rally for France and The Progressives are associate parties of the UMP. By adhering to these parties, members also adhered to the UMP and could participate in the UMP's inner organisation. The Radical Party was associated with the UMP from 2002 through 2011. Overseas parties associated with

2280-496: The UMP. Having gained his popularity as a 'hardliner' Interior minister , Sarkozy's policies also carried a strong law-and-order and tough on crime orientation. He supported tougher sentences for criminals and repeat offenders . As candidate and president, he placed heavy emphasis on immigration and national identity , presenting immigration as a danger to French identity and as source of increased criminality. As president, he imposed stricter limits on family reunification , created

2356-697: The United Kingdom and the United States, the term liberal conservatism came to be understood simply as conservatism in popular culture, prompting some conservatives who embraced more strongly classical-liberal values to call themselves libertarians instead. However, there are differences between classical liberals and libertarians. In their embrace of liberal and free market principles, European liberal conservatives are clearly distinguishable from those holding national-conservative , fully socially conservative and/or outright populist views, let alone

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2432-414: The United States as conservative liberalism and distinguished it from liberal conservatism. Historically, conservatism in the 18th and 19th centuries comprised a set of principles based on concern for established tradition , respect for authority and religious values . This form of traditionalist or classical conservatism is often considered to be exemplified by the writings of Joseph de Maistre in

2508-513: The United States, conservatives often combine the economic individualism of classical liberals with a Burkean form of conservatism that emphasizes the natural inequalities between men, the irrationality of human behavior as the basis for the human drive for order and stability and the rejection of natural rights as the basis for government. From a different perspective, American conservatism (a "hybrid of conservatism and classical liberalism") has exalted three tenets of Burkean conservatism, namely

2584-510: The basis of current liberal conservatism which can be seen both in the works of Raymond Aron and Michael Oakeshott . However, there is general agreement that the original liberal conservatives were those who combined conservative social attitudes with an economically liberal outlook, adapting a previous aristocratic understanding of natural inequalities between men to the rule of meritocracy , without directly criticizing privileges of birth as long as individual liberties were guaranteed. Over time,

2660-539: The bottom", was chosen as the party's candidate for Prime Minister. Without a real leader, and staggered by the results of 21 April, the left was in difficulty. The Socialist chairman François Hollande tried to revive the "Plural Left" under the name of "United Left"; but the effort was undermined by the fact that it did not have a sufficiently concrete programme. Furthermore, the left-wing parties could not motivate their voters against an unrecognized and apparently uncontroversial politician like Raffarin. In addition part of

2736-521: The cabinet were Bernard Kouchner , Hervé Morin and, above all, Jean-Louis Borloo . Xavier Bertrand, who re-joined the government, was replaced as general-secretary of the UMP by Jean-François Copé on 17 November 2010. The party suffered another major electoral defeat in the 2011 cantonal elections held on 20 and 27 March 2011, and in September, the centre-right lost control of the French Senate for

2812-518: The candidate of the droite décomplexée ('uninhibited right') and introduced issues such as anti-white racism . However, both candidates received support from moderate and conservative members of the party and their main differences were in rhetoric, style and temperament. Copé, again, appeared more militant and activist, saying that he would support and participate in street demonstrations while Fillon disagreed with his rival. Six 'motions' (declarations of principles) were submitted to party voters; under

2888-672: The composition of the new party's political bureau by 94.77%. The Republicans thus became the legal successor of the UMP as the leading centre-right party in France. Defunct Defunct The UMP was a party of the centre-right belonging to the Gaullist lineage, and was variously described as liberal-conservative , conservative , conservative-liberal , and Christian democratic . The UMP believed that each individual's destiny must be unencumbered and it rejects political systems which "stifle economic freedom". It said that work, merit, innovation and personal initiative must be encouraged to reduce unemployment and boost economic growth; but at

2964-534: The creation of a cohesive and tolerant society with increased levels of individual responsibility and less inequality . Liberal conservatism shares the classical liberal tenets of a commitment to individualism , belief in negative freedom , a lightly regulated free market, and a minimal rule of law state. A number of commentators have stated that many conservative currents in the 1980s, such as Thatcherism , were rejuvenated classical liberals in all but name. However, in contrast to classical liberalism there

3040-434: The diffidence toward the power of the state, the preference of liberty over equality and for patriotism while rejecting the three remaining tenets, namely loyalty to traditional institutions and hierarchies, skepticism regarding progress and elitism. Consequently, the term liberal conservatism is not used in the United States. Modern American liberalism happens to be quite different from European liberalism and occupies

3116-513: The early 2000s grew from 100,000 to 300,000 after members received a greater say in the selection of the party’s presidential candidate. Juppé resigned the party's presidency on 15 July 2004 after being found guilty in a corruption scandal in January of the same year. Nicolas Sarkozy rapidly announced that he would take over the presidency of the UMP and resign his position as finance minister , ending months of speculation. On 28 November 2004, Sarkozy

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3192-417: The economy, according to which individuals should be free to participate in the market and generate wealth without government interference. However, liberal conservatives also hold that individuals cannot be thoroughly depended on to act responsibly in other spheres of life; therefore, they believe that a strong state is necessary to ensure law and order and that social institutions are needed to nurture

3268-608: The economy. At the European level, Christian democrats and most liberal conservatives are affiliated to the European People's Party (EPP), while liberals (including conservative and social liberals) to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party). In this context, some traditionally Christian-democratic parties (such as Christian-Democratic and Flemish in Belgium,

3344-507: The election of Nicolas Sarkozy , the former President of France (2007–2012), as president of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) in November 2014, he put forward a request to the party's general committee to change its name to the Republicans as well as the statutes of the party. With the name already chosen Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet , vice president of the UMP, presented Nicolas Sarkozy and

3420-415: The fall of the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin and to the formation of a new cabinet, presided by another UMP politician, Dominique de Villepin . However, during this time, the UMP under Sarkozy gained a record number of new members and rejuvenated itself in preparation of the 2007 election. On 14 January 2007, Sarkozy was nominated unopposed as the UMP's presidential candidate for the 2007 election. On

3496-477: The fathers of liberalism , including economic liberalism , the separation of church and state , social liberalism and utilitarianism . According to scholar Andrew Vincent, the maxim of liberal conservatism is "economics is prior to politics". Others emphasize the openness of historical change and a suspicion of tyrannical majorities behind the hailing of individual liberties and traditional virtues by authors such as Edmund Burke and Alexis de Tocqueville as

3572-464: The first round of the 2002 presidential elections . President Jacques Chirac was easily reelected, all the Republican parties having called to block far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen . Chirac's conservative supporters created the Union for the Presidential Majority ( Union pour la majorité présidentielle or UMP) to prepare for the legislative elections. The first round of the presidential election

3648-627: The first time in the history of the Fifth Republic. In May 2011, during a party congress, the Radical Party, led by Borloo, decided to leave the UMP and launch The Alliance , a new centrist coalition. The party opted not to organise primaries ahead of the 2012 presidential election and endorsed Nicolas Sarkozy 's bid for second term. Sarkozy lost reelection to the Socialist Party candidate François Hollande on 6 May 2012, winning 48.36% in

3724-495: The integration and assimilation of immigrants into French society and always denounced communitarianism as a danger to the French nation-state . However, the UMP traditionally was a strong proponent of European integration and the European Union , albeit sometimes with a hint of traditional Gaullist souverainism . Under Nicolas Sarkozy 's leadership, the UMP adopted a liberal and security-oriented platform. His platform in

3800-467: The issues, the party under Sarkozy publicly disapproved of Turkey 's proposed membership in the European Union, which Chirac had previously endorsed several times publicly, and generally took a more right-wing position. On 22 April 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy won the plurality of votes in the first round of the 2007 presidential election . On 6 May he faced the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal in

3876-408: The left-wing electorate did not want a new "cohabitation". Finally, the polls indicated a growing advantage for the Presidential Majority. The right won the elections and the UMP obtained a large parliamentary majority of 394 seats. For the third time under the Fifth Republic, a party acquired an absolute majority (the "blue surge"). Five months later, it became the Union for a Popular Movement . On

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3952-515: The majority of conservatives in the Western world came to adopt free market economic ideas as the Industrial Revolution progressed and the monarchy, aristocracy and clergy lost their wealth and power, to the extent that such ideas are now generally considered as part of conservatism. Nonetheless, the term liberal is used in most countries to describe those with free-market economic views. This

4028-565: The name of the party to The Republicans, which was approved and came into effect on 30 May 2015. The UMP enjoyed an absolute majority in the National Assembly from 2002 to 2012, and was a member of the European People's Party (EPP), the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) and the International Democrat Union (IDU). Since the 1980s, the political groups of the parliamentary right have joined forces around

4104-408: The new statutes, motions which won over 10% of the vote at the congress would be recognised as "movements" by the UMP leadership, granted financial autonomy and receive positions in the party structures. The vote on 18 November saw high turnout but was quickly marred by allegations of irregularities and potential fraud on both sides. Both candidates proclaimed victory within 20 minutes of each other on

4180-479: The night of the vote. Twenty four hours later, the control commission in charge of the vote (COCOE) announced Copé's victory by only 98 votes. While Fillon initially conceded defeat, by 21 November, his campaign claimed victory anew, with a 26-vote advantage over Copé. Fillon's campaign argued that the COCOE had failed to take into account votes cast in three overseas federations . Party elder Alain Juppé accepted to lead

4256-400: The organisation of formal movements within the party following the November 2012 congress. According to the party's statutes, motions backed by at least 10 parliamentarians from 10 departmental federations and which obtain at least 10% support from members at a congress are recognised as movements. They are granted financial autonomy by way of a fixed grant and additional funding in proportion to

4332-451: The party hierarchy were divided between supporters of both candidates. New leaders were also nominated in February 2013. Several spending scandals appeared in 2014. In early 2014, the Bygmalion scandal ( fr ) pushed the party's leader Jean-François Copé to resign. In early July, Sarkozy got held in custody due to possible spying and active corruption of the judiciary system. On 8 July 2014,

4408-419: The party's political bureau a project of new statutes. The proposed statutes provided for, among others, the election of the presidents of the departmental federations by direct suffrage, the end of the political currents and consulting members on election nominations. Critics of Sarkozy claimed it was illegal for him to name the party "Republicans" because every French person is a republican in that they support

4484-506: The party, to represent the various political families of which it was made up. However, fearing leadership rivalries and divisions, Juppé, Chirac and later Sarkozy 'postponed' the creation of such organised movements indefinitely. Nevertheless, prior to the organisations of formal "movements" in November 2012, there existed informal groupings of like-minded members, either through associations, political clubs, associated political parties or even informal factions. Jean-François Copé allowed for

4560-472: The post- Enlightenment age. Contemporaneous liberalism , now recalled as classical liberalism , advocated both political freedom for individuals and a free market in the economic sphere. Ideas of this sort were promulgated by John Locke , Montesquieu , Voltaire , Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Ben Franklin , Thomas Jefferson , Thomas Paine , Edward Gibbon , David Hume , Adam Smith , Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill , who are respectively remembered as

4636-445: The presidencies of only 2 out of 22 regions in metropolitan France ( Alsace and Corsica ) and only half of the departments (the right had previously won numerous departmental presidencies) in the simultaneous 2004 cantonal elections . In the 2004 European Parliament election on 13 June 2004, the UMP also suffered another heavy blow, winning 16.6% of the vote, far behind the Socialist Party (PS), and only 16 seats. The membership in

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4712-463: The presidency, interim leader Jean-Claude Gaudin prevented a leadership struggle between Patrick Devedjian and Jean-Pierre Raffarin by announcing that the UMP should have a collegial leadership while Sarkozy was President of the Republic. In July, the UMP's national council approved an amendment to the party's statute allowing for a collegial leadership around three vice-presidents (Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Jean-Claude Gaudin and Pierre Méhaignerie ) and

4788-433: The principle of equality as something discordant with human nature and emphasizes instead the idea of natural inequality. As conservatives in democratic countries have embraced typical liberal institutions such as the rule of law , private property , the market economy and constitutional representative government, the liberal element of liberal conservatism became consensual among conservatives. In some countries such as

4864-414: The runoff. The party was defeated by the new president's left-wing majority in the subsequent legislative election . Prior to Sarkozy's defeat on 6 May, the UMP's secretary-general Jean-François Copé announced that he supported the creation of internal "movements" within the party and the organisation of primaries for the next presidential election. The UMP's political bureau announced the organisation of

4940-522: The same time, it maintained that adherence to the rule of law and the authority of the state is necessary. In a Gaullist tradition, the UMP supported solidarity, with the state guaranteeing social protection of less fortunate individuals. But in a more liberal vein, the party always denounced l'assistanat , a French term which can refer to "welfare handouts ". The party took more nationalist positions at times, and often adopted tough stances against immigration and illegal immigration . It strongly supported

5016-517: The second round and won, taking 53.06% of the vote. As a consequence, he resigned from the presidency of the UMP on 14 May 2007, two days before becoming President of the French Republic. François Fillon was appointed prime minister. On 17 June 2007, at a 2007 legislative election , the UMP gained a majority in the National Assembly with 313 out of 577 seats. Following Sarkozy's election to

5092-521: The values and ideals of the French Republic that emanated from the French Revolution , and as such the term is above party politics. The new name was adopted by the bureau on 5 May 2015 and approved by the party membership on 28 May by an online yes vote of 83.28% on a 45.74% participation after a court ruling in favor of Sarkozy. Similarly the new party statutes are adopted by 96.34% of voters and

5168-528: The values of economic liberalism and the building of Europe . Their rivalries had contributed to their defeat in the 1981 and 1988 legislative elections. Before the 1993 legislative election , the Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR) and the centrist Union for French Democracy (UDF) formed an electoral alliance, the Union for France (UPF). However, in the 1995 presidential campaign they were both divided between followers of Jacques Chirac , who

5244-452: The vote, defeating Nicolas Dupont-Aignan , the leader of the party's Eurosceptic Arise the Republic faction, and three other candidates. During the party's earlier years, it was marked by tensions and rivalries between Juppé and other chiraquiens and supporters of Nicolas Sarkozy , the then- Minister of the Interior . In the 2004 regional elections , the UMP suffered a heavy blow, winning

5320-492: The votes they obtained; but the sum of funds transferred by the party to its movements can be no larger than 30% of the annual public subsidies the UMP receives from the state. Six motions representing various ideological tendencies within the party ran to be recognised as official movements following the November 2012 congress . Five of these motions met the conditions to be recognised as such, and their leaders have since integrated

5396-449: Was a shock for the two main coalitions. The candidates of the parliamentary right obtained 32% of votes, and the candidates of the "Plural Left" only 27%. In the first polls, for the legislative elections, they were equal. The UMP campaigned against " cohabitation ", which is blamed for causing confusion profitable to the far-right and far-left. Jean-Pierre Raffarin , a relatively low-profile politician who said he would listen to "France at

5472-514: Was elected to the party's presidency with 85.09% of the votes against 9.1% for Dupont-Aignan and 5.82% for Christine Boutin , the leader of the UMP's social conservatives . Having gained control of what had been Chirac's party, Sarkozy focused the party machinery and his energies on the 2007 presidential election . The failure of the referendum on the European Constitution on 25 May 2005 led to

5548-474: Was eventually elected, and supporters of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur . After their defeat in the 1997 legislative election , the RPR and UDF created the Alliance for France in order to coordinate the actions of their parliamentary groups. Before the 2002 presidential campaign , the supporters of President Jacques Chirac , divided in three centre-right parliamentary parties, founded an association named Union on

5624-442: Was not reported as being spent on Sarkozy's re-election campaign was instead used to overspend on lavish campaign rallies and events. On 30 September 2021, Sarkozy and his co-defendants would be convicted for violating France's campaign finance spending limit law. For this conviction, Sarkozy was given a 1-year prison sentence, though he was also given the option to instead serve this sentence at home with an electronic bracelet. After

5700-409: Was reorganized in January 2013 to accommodate Copé and Fillon's supporters: Laurent Wauquiez and Valérie Pécresse joined Luc Chatel and Michèle Tabarot as vice-president and secretary-general respectively. Christian Estrosi , Gérard Longuet , Henri de Raincourt (pro-Fillon), Jean-Claude Gaudin , Brice Hortefeux and Roger Karoutchi (pro-Copé) also became vice-presidents. Other positions in

5776-544: Was succeeded by The Republicans . Nicolas Sarkozy , the then president of the UMP, was elected president of France in the 2007 French presidential election , until he was later defeated by PS candidate François Hollande in the 2012 presidential election . After the November 2012 party congress, the UMP experienced internal fractioning and was plagued by monetary scandals which forced its president Jean-François Copé to resign. After Sarkozy's re-election as UMP president in November 2014, he put forward an amendment to change

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